


Bottling It Up

by gwyllgi



Series: A Dash of Bitters [3]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: M/M, Makeup Sex, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:56:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19477288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwyllgi/pseuds/gwyllgi
Summary: You can't have makeup sex without first having a fight.The argument had been stupid and, if Evfra were honest with himself, entirely his own fault.





	Bottling It Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sorrowfulcheese](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorrowfulcheese/gifts).



The argument had been stupid and, if Evfra were honest with himself, entirely his own fault. They'd gone from a pleasant evening sprawled together on the sofa he increasingly thought of as _theirs_ reading reports to Scott storming through the door, a scowl sitting uncomfortably in place of his usual smile. They'd argued over strategy before, sometimes heatedly, but Evfra had been the one to dismiss Scott's opinions as too human, too naive.

He had been foolish.

He should've admitted to Scott that he'd been on edge, that his temper had nothing to do with Scott and everything to do with the looming anniversary of the loss of his family. Although the silence of his house was less oppressive than it had become over the years, there were still times when it pressed upon him. He still sometimes expected to hear the chatter of dozens of voices when the door slid open, to be greeted by Nelaleh's soft gaze and softer touch, her secret smile only for him.

Scott hadn't returned by the time Evfra had left for HQ the next morning, much to the dismay of the Resistance members who found themselves the unwitting targets of Evfra's ire. As the morning dragged on and Scott failed to appear, Evfra's irritation only grew; he'd never taken Scott for the type of man who'd run away from an argument, and his absence was like a missing tooth that Evfra couldn't help but worry.

It wasn't until he'd overheard an offhand comment from one of the fighters about the departure of the Tempest early that morning that he remembered: Scott had been called back to Meridian for consultation with Initiative leadership, scheduled to depart with the Pathfinder when the Tempest next left Aya.

He hadn't expected it to be so soon, and anger at Scott's departure without so much as a goodbye warred with guilt that he'd driven Scott to that. Twisted between the two, he fumed as the afternoon waned, until he finally broke and messaged Scott with a terse wish for safe travels. Scott was a reasonable, intelligent man; surely he'd be able to read between the lines for Evfra's apology.

Scott didn't reply that day, no doubt busy with preparations for his meetings—quite understandable, even admirable. But he didn't reply the next day either, or the next, or the day after that. Evfra fought against the urge to message him again as the days trickled by; the choice was Scott's, he told himself, and there was no reason for him to go begging for Scott to contact him.

But as days turned into weeks, Evfra found despair licking at the edges of his consciousness. Scott had opened the door he'd slammed on his emotions, and Evfra struggled to close it again, to wrap himself in the coldness of solitude. Losing his wife and family had gutted him, hollowed him out to a shell of the man he had been, and now Scott... the loss of Scott would shatter him.

The day the Tempest returned, Evfra was overseeing the induction of new troops, his critical eye almost as sharp as his tongue as he watched their evaluations. He prowled back and forth along the observation deck, one hand fisted against his thigh as though struggling against imminent violence. It wasn't entirely inaccurate, in truth; he felt at times that the tight leash he had on rage was all that kept the emptiness from exploding him into a fine dust.

He didn't notice the hasty exit of the guards and other observers on the deck with him, too focused on the grind of his teeth and the absolute ineptitude of the recruits on the floor below. Only when he turned to prowl the length of the deck again did he realize that he was alone but for the last man he wanted to face, the only man he wanted to see.

Scott watched him silently, his usually-expressive face wiped blank above arms crossed over his chest. His hair was longer, its flame grown out more, and loose over his shoulders. He looked tired and drawn, the sharp planes of his face thrown into relief by lingering exhaustion, his eyes stormy as they met and held Evfra's.

"You finally crawled back," Evfra snapped, then slammed his mouth shut; the accusation bore no resemblance to the relief that was rushing through him, the harsh words anathema to the giddiness tightening around his lungs. When the corners of Scott's mouth ticked down, he struggled to take the words back, but nothing emerged from between his parted lips but a shaky exhale.

"Let's try that again," Scott growled— _growled_ , and if that wasn't one of the most arousing things Evfra had ever heard, he'd eat his rofjinn. Evfra held himself still and taut as Scott stalked toward him with the single-minded focus of a fiend on its prey, unable to tear his eyes away from Scott's as the man reached him and grabbed his cowl with both hands. "I think you meant, 'I'm sorry,' and 'I missed you,'" he continued in the same tone, and then the words didn't matter because he was dragging Evfra closer and—

Scott tasted faintly of tavum but mostly of himself, the heat of his mouth and the rough slide of his tongue as familiar now as Evfra's own. He kept a tight hold on Evfra's cowl, refused to release him even when they broke apart and gasped for air, and Evfra didn't care because Scott was _here_ and—

Skkut.

_Here_ , where anyone on the floor below could see them, where anyone could walk onto the observation deck and find them making out like teenagers.

_Here_ , where Scott's fingers finally released their death grip, only to slide instead to link behind Evfra's neck and provide leverage for him to draw himself to Evfra's mouth for a softer, sweeter kiss that felt a lot like coming home.

_Here_ , where Evfra realized he didn't care what anyone else thought; they'd not been demonstrative at HQ but also made no effort to hide their erstwhile relationship, and if there had been criticism it hadn't made it to him.

_Here_ , where Scott belonged, because it was wherever Evfra was.

He didn't realize he'd been lost in his thoughts until Scott ran his teeth along his jawline, a rough scrape that did nothing to loosen the squeeze on Evfra's lungs. "Think you could get away for the afternoon?" Scott breathed against his throat, even as he dragged his nails down the back of Evfra's neck to slip beneath his rofjinn. "I missed you, too."

"Everyone will talk," Evfra said; he might not care what anyone else thought, but he certainly didn't want to be the focus of gossip. "It would not be subtle."

Scott huffed a laugh against his skin, then leaned back to meet Evfra's eyes. "It doesn't bother me. If you want to wait, though, that's O—" He cut off with a squeak when Evfra hefted him in an abrupt movement to sling him over his shoulder. He flailed briefly until Evfra anchored a hand over his butt to hold him firmly in place, then sighed and fisted his hands in Evfra's rofjinn. "No, then." He grunted when Evfra bounced him into a better position, then pressed his forehead against Evfra's back and laughed.

Conversation stuttered and failed as Evfra left the observation deck, Scott still chortling at his back. Wide eyes followed them as he made his way through HQ, though his own remained fixed straight forward. He lengthened his stride as he approached the doors, ignored the rush of whispered conversation that resumed as soon as he stepped from the building, and turned toward the residential district and the promise that home held. They passed several angara on the path, but if any of them offered so much as a nod of greeting, Evfra didn't pay it any mind; he had far more important things to focus on.

He didn't stop until he stood before the sofa where it had all started. He pulled Scott from his shoulder and slung him over the sofa, where he landed in an artless pile of limbs, a sprawl that Evfra hungrily devoured with his gaze. Scott's pants were already tightening over his groin and Evfra swallowed thickly at the thought of what they contained, what he could do with that knowledge.

" _That_ was hot," Scott said, then arched his back and stretched his arms over his head, curving in a taut line against the back of the sofa. "You should go all caveman more often."

Evfra frowned in confusion, but dismissed it a moment later in favor of manhandling Scott upright. He nudged Scott's knees apart to kneel between them, caught Scott's hand and drew it close enough to press a kiss to the delicate skin at the inside of his wrist, smirked at Scott's sharp inhale. "Never leave like that again," he ordered—or tried, at least; his tone was rather more plaintive than authoritative. It would've bothered him were anyone else to hear the vulnerability in the words, but Scott was... well, Scott was Scott, and he saw through Evfra with an ease that occasionally terrified him.

Scott laid his free hand on Evfra's cheek, brushed his thumb gently over Evfra's lower lip. "Tell me next time something's bothering you. Don't just take it out on me." He smiled then, and tapped Evfra between his eyes. "I'll forgive you this time. Don't do it again."

Evfra tried to scowl, truly he did, but his relief was too great to allow the expression to manifest. "I will," he promised, then, "I won't." The scowl came then in the face of the amusement sparkling in Scott's eyes. "I'll talk to you," he clarified. "As much as I can. I won't change overnight."

"I don't want you to change." Scott grasped Evfra's cowl again, held him steady as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss where his finger had poked. "I just want you to let me in."

Evfra tangled a hand in Scott's hair to draw his head back. "I want that, too," he whispered, barely more than a breath. More words pressed behind those, words he staved off by taking Scott's mouth with a rough kiss, lips and teeth and tongue promising more—so much more.

When their kiss broke, Scott's hands framed Evfra's face, thumbs stroking along his jaw with a touch so gentle it almost hurt. He searched Evfra's eyes, his own stormy with thoughts unspoken, then smiled, as though he'd found what he'd sought. "You have galaxies in your eyes," he murmured, even as his thumb skimmed over Evfra's lower lip. "Beautiful."

Evfra loosened his grip in Scott's hair, stroking through the loose strands as he inhaled. "There is no beauty in me," he deflected. "I am an old, tired soldier; there is nothing of beauty in that."

Scott frowned then, eyes narrowing. "We have a saying on Earth: 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'" He caught Evfra's wrist and drew his hand to press it against Scott's chest, trapping it over his heart. "And you're the most beautiful thing in Heleus."

Blinking hard, Evfra attempted to reclaim his hand, only to surrender when Scott resisted. "You're a fool," he grumbled instead, gruff and barely audible, then sighed and used his trapped hand to push Scott back against the sofa. "My fool, I suppose."

"Your fool," Scott agreed.

Evfra's heart lurched as he regarded Scott's quiet contentment, the faint curve of his lips, the shine in his alien eyes, the ease with which he sprawled beneath Evfra on the sofa. Breath coming short, he touched Scott's cheek with wonder, then stroked the fine hair above one eye, circling to follow the line of his nose, to test the divot at the center of his top lip. He ignored it when Scott's lips parted, unable to help his own slight smile as he skimmed his finger to stroke behind Scott's ear.

"I adore you."

Evfra's eyes widened at his own words, even as Scott's lids drooped, grey irises mostly hidden by the sweep of his dark lashes. White teeth pressed into his lower lip, drawing it in and releasing it again with a slow slide. "Evfra," he breathed, then fell silent as the moment spun out, drawing taut between them until Evfra could take no more.

He may have growled Scott's name, but he couldn't be sure, not when all he could think of was how quickly he could bare Scott to his gaze, his touch. He sat back only long enough to pull off Scott's boots, then leaned back in to capture Scott's pliant mouth as he reached for the fastenings of Scott's pants. It took but a moment to work them free, and then his fingers caught under the waistbands of them and Scott's ridiculous human undergarments. Urgency left him careless as he yanked them down as far as he could without removing himself from between Scott's legs, bringing Scott a few inches off the sofa with them, then lifted one of Scott's feet to work one side the rest of the way off, then the other.

Covered now only from the waist up, Scott watched Evfra with hooded eyes. "I take it you missed me," he said as one corner of his mouth quirked up.

"I did," Evfra admitted, even as he shoved his own pants off his hips, then pushed Scott's knees apart and pressed between them until Scott's erect cock burned against his abdomen. "Scott, I cannot..."

"Cannot...?" Scott prompted, and rubbed a foot over the back of Evfra's thigh. "Cannot what?"

Evfra exhaled harshly, before releasing Scott's knees to instead skim his hands up his sides to frame his ribs beneath his shirt. "I cannot promise I will be gentle."

Within Evfra's grasp, Scott shuddered and closed his eyes, his lower lip again caught between his teeth. "I hope you aren't," he whispered. "I really hope you aren't."

Evfra snapped his teeth on more words— _yes_ and _please_ and _mine_ and others even more unspeakable. "I may hurt you," he said instead, and rolled his hips against Scott. His cock was already completely unsheathed, aching and slick with his secretions. "I won't stop."

In answer, Scott wrapped his legs around Evfra's waist and arched his hips, his hands lifting to curl over the back of the sofa as though anchoring himself. He looked like he should be uncomfortable, curled awkwardly with his back on the sofa and the rest of him wrapped around Evfra, but if he had any complaints he didn't give voice to them. A better man may have enquired as to his comfort, but Evfra was not that man.

"Here, taoshay," he crooned, paying little attention to his words as he took himself in hand and guided himself to Scott's hole, holding himself firmly as he rocked against it, teasing them both with the anticipation of penetration. "Here, I have you." He stilled only long enough to inhale deeply, then speared Scott with one hard thrust.

Scott shouted, a word garbled into intelligibility as he writhed around Evfra's cock, the walls of his tunnel spasming in blissful torture. The muscles of his forearms strained as he clutched at the sofa, the tendons in his neck doing the same as his head fell back. Evfra had never seen anything more beautiful.

He withdrew slightly, barely enough to let him rock back into Scott's grasping body, and then he was lost. He pounded into Scott with all of the desperation of the last few weeks, all of his worry pouredinto the snap of his hips. Around him, Scott's legs tensed and trembled, and Evfra grabbed his thighs to free himself from their grasp. He ignored Scott's sound of protest as he hooked his arms under Scott's knees and leaned against the edge of the couch, spreading him wide open.

The new position was all he needed—he sank deeply into Scott, so deeply he imagined he could touch the core of all that Scott was, an intimacy that transcended the simple mating of bodies. A growl tore from his chest, a primal sound of completion, as he drove himself into Scott and stilled but for short, sharp thrusts he could no more control than he could pluck the moon from the sky.

"Touch yourself," he commanded, and Scott wasted no time in complying. He wrenched a hand free from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around his cock, smearing the fluid seeping from its tip over himself as he yanked inelegantly. Evfra was helpless to look away, enraptured by the appearance and disappearance of the head within Scott's brutal grip. Hitching Scott's legs up again, he withdrew almost completely—much to Scott's chagrin, if his mewl was anything to go by—and watched the punishing rhythm of Scott's hand intently. He could feel Scott's readiness in the trembling that had started in his legs again, the uncontrolled arching of his hips as he sought to reclaim Evfra's cock.

As Scott's hand began to slide toward the base of his cock again, Evfra slammed his cock into him once more, beyond anything but pleasure. Scott's shout echoed in Evfra's ears as he spurted over his fingers, white lines painting the shirt still covering his chest and belly, and never mind anything else, _this right here_ was the most beautiful thing Evfra had ever seen. He ground his hips against Scott, and added his own roar to the soft sounds still working from Scott's throat as he poured all that he had into the man who already held all that he was.

Scott had stilled but for the hectic rise and fall of his chest by the time Evfra gathered himself enough to slide from him, though he shuddered as Evfra left him empty. His eyes were closed, his face sheened with sweat, his fingers still loosely grasping his softening cock, but there was nothing of pain in his features, no sense of discomfort marring the contentment in his expression. Still, Evfra wasted no time in sliding his arms from beneath Scott's knees to instead gather him close and press a kiss to his damp forehead.

"Scott," he said, and even that syllable sounded overwrought to him, emotions tangled inextricably in the simple utterance of his name. To his shock, he found himself with wetness in his eyes, hiding it within the fall of Scott's bright hair.

Scott's arms crept around him, wrapping around his neck as he exhaled. "I love you, too." His smile curved his cheek against Evfra's as his arms tightened. "You don't have to say—"

"Scott." Evfra turned his head to press a kiss behind Scott's ear. "Taoshay." He maneuvered Scott back onto the sofa, though he refused to relinquish the embrace. "I am not a demonstrative man—" he ignored Scott's soft huff "—but know that you hold my heart."

"I'll take good care of it," Scott whispered, then added in a marginally stronger voice, "Do you think you can carry me to bed? I don't think my legs are working."

Despite himself, Evfra laughed, unable to contain the joy bubbling within him. "I would like nothing better, taoshay."

**Author's Note:**

> ...I have no explanation or excuse for this, no one to blame. It just is.


End file.
